Initiative Petition Process

An initiative is the procedure in which people, instead of the legislature, use to introduce and enact a law.

Application Process:

Preparation of language by an initiative petition committee for the application.

The collection of signatures by the initiative petition committee of 100 qualified voters who agree to act as sponsors for petition circulation purposes.

The application is presented to the Lieutenant Governor for review with assistance from the
Department of Law and Division of Elections.

Notification by the Lieutenant Governor if the application is certified or denied is given to the initiative committee. If certified, the Lieutenant Governor will
provide to the initiative committee the ballot title and the true and impartial summary.

Initiative Petition Booklet Process

Upon notification that an application is certified, the Division of Elections prepares 500 initiative petition booklets for
the initiative committee.

Upon notification to the initiative committee by the Division of Elections that the booklets are ready for distribution, the initiative committee has 365 days to collect signatures of qualified voters.

The initiative committee must gather signatures of qualified voters equal in number to 10 percent of those who voted in the preceding General Election and are residents of at least three-fourths of the house districts and who, in each of the house districts, are equal in number to at least seven percent of those who voted in the preceding General Election in the house district.

The initiative committee files the initiative petition with the Division of Elections.

Signature Review Process

The Division of Elections reviews the signatures.

Notification to the initiative committee from the Lieutenant Governor that the petition is or is not sufficient (i.e., there were enough qualified signatures) to appear on the ballot.

Preparation of the ballot language if successful.

Prohibited Subjects:

No initiative petition may be proposed to:

Dedicate revenues.

Make or repeal appropriations.

Create courts.

Define the jurisdiction of courts or prescribe their rules.

Enact local or special legislation.

Legal References:

The initiative petition procedures appear in Article XI of the Alaska Constitution, Alaska Election Law and the Alaska Administrative Code.
Click the below links to view the Alaska Constitution, statutes and regulations: